Means for preparing dry mats for stereotyping.



v i. besides Causing iiijfwy im i5-lie iype in iiieliling;n ilewevei", zlii, ei wet me@ requires e longer lime, se tli eiellj/ iii ille i'iish gelinp; 0L- a me-li exim 'si mili ei a newspaper, when every seceiicl muets, dry

' the type impr `Witl1 my invenioip cliy mais are mede softer and more plesti@ so that they take the type impressien i'iieie readily and eeen.- rately :1mi with greet-ei ilepli? ljiy eeiifliiieiiing tliem in e special :imm of lmmifloi which l rlieve (levisefl. By iliis liiimicleif the dry mets are mede humid iiiii'oriiily, se fliet they better take the type impression, but they :ire nel: made wel: and do not; require drying on the drying table. fifei" the properly conditioned cli'y mais has .vreeeivecl the type impressien, ii. ie only necessary ce place it for e few seeones ou the scereliei' in the' same manner ne iii the case of iiiieeiin cliticmed dry mais :mil ei? dried Wet ma ts.

The aeeempzinying fli'ewiiig illueziee my special liiimiclor, for use iii my improved method ef preparing?" 'matrices from fliy fiong mats.

n they lieve not ne imizv-iielfiing ,i fling; Seveiml mais,

; 4 l Le iie .inf.fi'-iieifliug i-- im ieoiiietrie View eileei @if the liiiiiiidei. i me V i@ has 2i #sever El y.. mi@ eenveiieiily pievifleel with i wheieby i'; may be aeened iii Meel pesitien, the easing being subemib air-'tight when the cover is ciesed.

ff l@ there are pmvied a` :number guiailewnje le. opening at lie top genetically closed et the loetom by a 'heli' 1:3. The guide feys l: receive meisi'seiieis ES, conveniently in plete om, and umile of Seme material, such es eertain lzinfls ei y? 'which absorbs Weinei' easily but allows io evaporate readily tieiiefifem. To pire 'i5 breakage.$1 the meisieiiers are eiiitfily lmiinfl their edges in e metal binding l?. The iiioisieiieis 1G, when in place., :we siappei'iell on elle shelf l5. ,but project beyen the s; ges of sueii Shelves i-'iiei- .they may' be readily gi'esped and lifted mit ei the guiileways le.

A niailieldiig frame f2() reas el: lie iieer Qi of elle casing llG .und is provided Wizli :i i'f-eieuleiefl ile-:ir 22 moed above the iiooi 2]. Feseiierl io lie upper suiwfrice of elle )Fleet are e numb Shaped bmees 23, conveniently of Wire, tliese braces being spaced from each other to i'eeeive'tlie mate to be conditioned. The iii'aees 23 hold bile mais Qi apart and in. ifeitical pesiiieii, so the?J the vhumid fiii Within the humidor may circulate on all sides of Such mais and condition them miif'eimly.

ln epeietioii, e number of liy fiong mats ere pleeeciiii tile spaces between the bi'aees 23 witliiii the easing l0, and che moisteneis 16, first having been allowed to ebeerb :i siiilicient quantity of Water, are placed. in the geiewaye le. The cover 1.1 new being elapsed,l lie meistenei's 16 yielcl up their moi. ture ile the siii' Within the easing l0? which air eiieulzvbes en all sides eve mmh in 'the hiimiclef ael tlioi'eu'lily eoi'icliiiioiis lie-Se mais by making, they liiiiuicl, liiz; 110i; Wet-7 A scorcher,

-used as molds for casting-the stereotype -dered useless bysuch ofv the great amount of moisture they con throughout. This humidifying of the mats is entirely uniform. The amount of mois-v ture absorbed'by a mat/,in yhumidi'fying is inconsiderable as compared ,wit'hth'e amount of moisture in a wet mat.v l f l After having been allowed to remain in thehumidor for severalhours'or longer, and it does not damagey matsv to'remain'invthe humidor for much longer than-that, eyen several mouths for most types of dry mats,

the conditioned or'humidified mats are removed fromthe humidor and molded'in the usual manner under pressure on the exposed type `face of the forms of type of which 'stereotype plates are desired. Then-tbe matrices thus formed by the molding ofthe dry l mats are placed for a' few seconds" on a then being removed therefrom and The sc'orcher may be of anyl suitable type, for there are several Well known and successful types. The scorching process consists of applying for a short time to the mats a sufficient degree of heat to plates desired.

.\ drive olf the small amount of moisture which is present in humidified dry mats conditioned in my humidor7 as well as in wet mats after they have been dried in the drying table especially if exposed to the atmosphere during the'time requlred for preparing them for casting, this degree of heat ordinarily being such that if applied continuously the mat will be charred or burned. l Vet mats cannot be applied to the scorcher Without preliminary drying, as they would be renapplication on account tain and on account of their laminated constructionlMOne well known type of scorcher consists merely of a metal plate, conveniently semi-cylindrical the concave sideby a gas flame, the mat to be scorched being placed on the convex surface for a few seconds, sufficiently long to drive `out the moisture, but not sufliciently long to burn or the mats properly'conditioned, the type impression is rendered Vmuch clearer and sharper and of greater depth, as are also half-tones and other illustrations, than is the case when unconditioned dry mats are used, and the resultant stereotype plates and prints therefrom arer greatly improved. However, the amount of moisture absorbed in the conditioning process of the dry mats Vis so inconsiderable that it is not necessary to put-them Ona drying table, as is necesr provided vcomprising a casing,

-com risin a casing in shape, heated on char the mat. By havingl sary with ,a wet mat, in order vto avoid the possibility Iof ydisastrous effects from the .presence of molsture when the stereotype platesare cast. Thus by my invention vthe vStime 'required' for producing a clear stereo-y type plate is very much reduced, especially I Iwhen there-is no drying table in condition for use. I claim as my invention: l. A humidor for conditioning dry mats for forming matrices for stereotype plates,

comprising a casing, moistenets removably mounted in said casing, and a kremovable mat-holding frame having a -reticulated floor spaced flilom the iioor of the casingand wit to be conditioned andspacing them apart. 2. A humidor f or 'conditioning dry mats `for forming matrices for stereotype plates,

moisteners` removably mounted in said casing, and a mat-holding frame having a reticulatedl floor'v spacedl from the floor of theA casing and provided with means for holding the mats to be conditioned and spacing them apart.

3.' A humidor for conditioning for forming matrices for stereotypeplates, moisteners removably mounted inA said casing, anda removable mat-holding frame having a rreticulated means for holding the mats dry4 mats floor spaced from the floor of the casing and -provided with a plurality of parallel braces of inverted U- 4 4 and spaced from each other so thatl theyf hape attachedl to said'oor serve to support in. upright-position the mats' to be'conditione'diandto space such mats apart. .l 4. A humidor-for conditioning' dry`mat's for forming matricesvv for stereotypefplates, comprising a casing, moisteners""rerno`vably mounted in said casing, and

JOHN FREMONT naar.

Witnesses: i

ALomsE. BENNETT, G. B. SGHLEY.

a mat-holding frame ha ving a reticulated floor spacedfromhereunto set Y 

